Chapter 9

A glance at the clock showed less than half an hour until closing. The last of the after school crowd had finally begun to trickle away, leaving the shop's four exhausted employees free to begin to clean up, break down the register, and prepare for closing.

Aya had drifted to the workbench, as was his habit, to get a head start on tomorrow's projects. As nonchalantly as he could, Yohji began making his way toward him. Under pretext of watering a pot overflowing with mums, he managed to get close enough to 'accidentally' knock a roll of ribbon off the table.

"Oops. Sorry."

Smiling, he put down his watering can and bent to pick up the ribbons. Toying with them in his hands, he casually rested his backside against the edge of the table.

Aya's eyes regarded him warily.

"So…" Yohji drawled.

Their first 'real' date wasn't for three more days, and now that Yohji wasn't fretting over what it meant to be spending a night out with Aya, he was looking forward to it. The only problem he could foresee now was holding himself back.

Yohji usually took someone agreeing to date him as a sign that that person was also willing to do more. He was skilled enough that he could even easily convince someone who wasn't quite ready for more. He didn't have the patience to invest a lot of time in dating someone he knew he wasn't serious about, so there was no point in going slowly.

With Aya, though…with Aya, Yohji found that he was determined to explore this strange new attraction to its fullest. Aya was not someone to use and then throw away; he wasn't a toy or a distraction. He was…something special.

The very newness of that idea was what had Yohji so excited.

"What do you want, Kudoh?" Aya's voice was cold, but if Yohji had learned anything over the past several weeks it was that a scary glare and a cold voice didn't always mean what they seemed to. He reminded himself that with Aya, backing off was not an option – the only way to break past the icy façade was to push and push and push some more.

And anyway, the man had very nearly promised not to hurt him for trying to get close.

"I just wanted to come see you," he said. He thought about reaching out to tug on his hair, but found he wasn't brave enough. Instead, he settled for reaching for one of the flowers spread across the table's work surface. "Is that so wrong?"

A grunt. Aya snatched the flower away from him and continued working without further acknowledgement of his presence.

Unfortunately for Aya, Yohji understood the rules now. His insistence on annoying Aya had been what had won him the man's interest in the first place, and the fact that the beautiful but socially inept man had managed to say anything to him about it at all was merely the exception to the rule.

If Yohji wanted this to go anywhere, he was going to have to push Aya's buttons any and every way he could. Otherwise, they would be back to silent and painfully awkward dates neither one of them enjoyed.

"So. How was your day?"

"You were here," Aya tugged a ribbon Yohji had been sitting on out from under his ass and refused to look at him. "How do you think it was?"

"Smarty. I'm trying to make conversation, here. Humoring me won't hurt you, you bastard."

"Yotan!"

He jerked a little, reluctantly looking up to find Omi at the counter. Ken was locking up the front door.

"Will you check me?" Omi asked, motioning to the cash drawer that he had already counted down. Yohji sighed, glanced at Aya regretfully, and moved to do some actual work. "Were you bugging Ayan, Yotan?" the young assassin teased. "I know he let you introduce him to some of your friends, but don't you think you should be more careful?"

"Careful? You think he'll stab me?"

"Well…he looks like he might."

Yohji looked up. Across the room, still seated at his workbench, Aya was staring at him.

Yohji ducked his head back to the money he was counting, fighting a grin.

"You're right, chibi," he answered. "I think he is after my ass."

The younger man sighed, clearly deciding not to bother trying to find out why Yohji's voice had been so suggestive while saying that. When Yohji finished double-checking him and co-signed the deposit, the smaller blonde seemed only too happy to take the money from him.

Relieved of duty at last, Yohji began to stalk back to the workbench. Aya watched him approach, the only clear expression on his face being one of hostility.

Grinning at him was one of the bravest actions Yohji had ever taken.

Unfortunately, as he reached him, he found that he couldn't think of anything to say. He stood there like an idiot, grinning at Aya with a completely blank mind.

Aya's lips twitched.

"Thank you for volunteering, Yohji," he said.

The blonde blinked. "What?"

Aya rose from the table and placed the flowers he had been cutting into the section of the freezers reserved for working arrangements. When he turned back to Yohji, there was a definite smile on his lips.

"I'm going to pick up dinner. You're going to help."

"And let me guess: you wanna walk there."

"Yes."

"And if I said I didn't want to go?"

"I would tell you that you should have thought about that before."

"Before. Yes. Before I decided to try to force you to act like an actual human being?"

"No. Before you decided to spend the day bugging the hell out of me," Aya corrected.

Yohji shrugged. "Same diff."

Yohji didn't like it.

The men of Weiss split up cooking duties every week to keep things fair. Aya's nights to cook usually meant take-out. No one, to Yohji's knowledge, had ever bothered to ask Aya where he got the food from.

There was one place that the small man went to most often. The food wasn't bad, and Aya seemed to enjoy it more than anything else they ever had. At least, when he brought stuff home from there, he tended to eat more than usual.

What Yohji hadn't realized, however, was what a bad part of town the restaurant he favored was located in.

And the son of a bitch walked there.

Yohji stuffed his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders, silently fuming. He knew that driving a nice car like Aya's down here would only be asking for trouble, but Aya was too damn pretty to be walking around a place like this.

Aya glanced at him sidewise, frowning.

"I can take care of myself," he said, as if reading Yohji's mind. He didn't sound happy.

Yohji stumbled a step.

"I didn't say…"

Aya didn't stop walking.

"I know you agreed to date me. I know this was all my idea. And I know that I have no experience with relationships – if there's even a chance of forming one between us," his voice was quiet, tight, and just this side of angry. "But I don't want to put up with any protective shit from you."

Yohji caught Aya's arm and forced him to stop. Aya turned to meet his eyes slowly.

"I wouldn't like this even if we didn't have a date on Friday," Yohji said. He made sure to speak quietly and slowly. That always seemed to be the best way to make sure he and Aya understood each other. He knew it was the best way to sound sincere.

And, for once, he really did mean it.

"Aya…do you have any idea what you look like?"

The man scowled, wrenched away, and began walking again.

Yohji hurried to follow, but stayed a few steps behind, just in case the man decided to become violent.

"Aya…"

"Go home, Kudoh."

The tone of his voice almost stopped him. It was the ultra-cold, authoritative voice of the leader of Weiss.

"Aya, I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Because I look like some kind of freak?"

"No. Why the hell do you hate the fact you're so gorgeous?"

Aya stopped. Rounded on him. His arm flew out so quickly that Yohji himself was surprised when he managed to catch hold of it.

Aya's expression was one of pure fury.

"You're small," Yohji said quietly. "And you're delicate. Exotic. Irresistibly beautiful. And your body…"

Aya swung with his other arm and Yohji caught it. It was a testament to the neighborhood that no one even stopped to notice their argument.

"I know you can take care of yourself," he continued, "But some pervert that sees you on the street and things you're an easy mark won't know that. Even you could be caught by surprise."

"Kudoh…"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt. What about that makes you so pissed?"

The tension left Aya's arms. He looked lost.

Yohji was willing to bet that 'pissed off' was just Aya's immediate response to things that frightened or challenged him. When questioned about it, the man usually didn't have an explination.

Aya was confused enough that Yohji was able to draw him close. An arm around his slim shoulders, Yohji began to walk again – urging Aya along beside him.

Having his arm around the small man as they walked felt…strange. Good strange. Aya was the perfect height, width, everything for it to be completely comfortable, even natural, for them to position themselves so. He fit at Yohji's side as if he was meant to be there.

"You have to make a turn here," Aya said quietly as they approached a corner. He hadn't yet tried to pull away. Yohji followed his directions without comment, reluctant to break this sudden, sweet spell. He wanted to keep his arm around Aya for as long as possible.

They reached the end of the street and were stopped by a crosswalk. Aya quietly indicated that the restaurant was across the street.

Aya shifted slightly as they waited for the light to change, but he didn't pull away.

"You…" his voice was barely above a whisper, his hesitancy endearing. It was Yohji's turn to read minds.

"I meant everything I said."

Aya nodded, and said nothing else. The light gave them the walk signal, and they crossed.

Aya's restaurant was a small place, but it was crowded. Aya slipped out from under yohji's arm and quietly told him to take a seat at one of the few empty tables and wait for him. Yohji considered making a joke, then abandoned the idea on the off-chance that Aya would be nice to him on the walk home.

Yohji took a seat and stretched out his long legs, ready to people-watch. The restaurant's patrons were almost all fairly young. Many tables held study groups.

University students, then. It made sense that Aya would choose a place where other academics would choose to hang out. It explained a little of why he would walk into suck a bad part of town just for food. It was probably one of the only pleasures he allowed himself.

Aya actually chatted a little with the people in line with him. Still quiet, but he was more shy than antisocial. Before whatever had happened that had led him into his current life, this had been the kind of person Aya had been.

It was…fascinating to watch. Yohji's mind, so long trained into picking up every little detail, hungrily soaked up these clues into Aya's personality.

Aya smiled at the man behind the cash register – actually smiled – and chatted a little before giving his food order. Yohji rose as the redhead returned to him and , noting the way the man behind the counter watched Aya walk away, send him a friendly smile and a wave. The worker frowned and, hesitantly, waved back.

Aya gave him a suspicious look as he put his arm around him again and led him back outside. He didn't, however, try to pull away. That was a good sign.

Yohji took one of the bags of food.

"So, who's your friend?" he asked casually.

Aya just looked at him a moment before he understood.

"Tatsuki? His brother owns the restaurant."

"Looked interested."

"In what?"

"You?"

Aya blinked. Then looked at him. Yohji thought he could detect a slight blush, and then the smaller man was looking away.

"If he's interested," Aya mused quietly, "Then why the hell am I bothering with you?"

Yohji stumbled.

"You are joking, right?"

A small smile. Aya hesitated, then slowly, awkwardly, let his arm go around Yohji's waist. He only left it there for a moment, but a moment was more than enough.

Grinning, Yohji gave his shoulder a squeeze.

tbc

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

Henna - happy you enjoyed it - and don't worry, your English was fine.

CaT70 - WHOA FOR ALL CAPS! lol... I couldn't get the picture to come up though...(ish sad)